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This blog is a compendium of my thoughts on various topics. These are my private writings. *No portion of any of the material here may be recopied or used in any way without my express written permission.* CONTACT: DoreenDotan@gmail.com

Monday, June 17, 2013

Rethinking the Idea of Ownership of
Prisons –

Cooperative Ownership

Through the Eyes
of Women: What a Co-operative Can Mean in Supporting Women During Confinement
and Integration

http://usaskstudies.coop/socialeconomy/?page_id=1495

This is a tremendously
promising idea.

One of the things
that always disturbed me most about Anarcho-Capitalism was the promulgation of
the idea of privatized prisons and police forces.was stuck in the concept of private ownership
when I rejected the idea out-of-hand. We see the results of private ownership
of prisons and militias and they are nightmarish.

However, the
integration of the concept of Co-Operative in the ownership of prisons and
police forces is entirely different.

Let's concentrate in
the space of this preliminary discussion on prisons.

If prisons are
Cooperatively owned, they will be owned by a group of people who are
essentially different in their weltanschauung than are Capitalists. Moreover,
there will be a number of people supervising the project. Additionally, that
Cooperative will no doubt be part of a cooperative Network, which will provide
moral, as well as economic, checks and balances.

Earning shares in the
Cooperative prison can be integrated into the Rehabilitation process. As
prisoners show more identification with society and willingness to be part of
society, they earn the right to be owners, and therefore decision-makers, in
the prison.

Training in various
other types of Cooperatives can be offerred in prisons and job opportunities in
Cooperatives will be part of the process of release from prisons.

This discussion was
initiated in a group called Cooperatives on LinkedIn.

The idea is not just
for women, of course. I'm offerring this article because it is the only article
I know of that considers the idea of Cooperative prisons.